Vandalisms tied to hunt for rent money

Court documents indicate WL man checked vehicles looking for cash

A 21-year-old West Lafayette man accused of firing gunshots last Wednesday outside Willowbrook West apartments has been linked to a string of vehicle vandalisms at the same complex early that morning, court documents allege.

Tyler E. Davis told Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office deputies that he was thinking about due rent and decided to check for unlocked vehicles, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday in Tippecanoe Superior Court 2.

No one was injured. But Davis is suspected of firing three gunshots into the air just as deputies were patrolling through Willowbrook West, off Lindberg Road in West Lafayette, for the vandalism suspect.

Davis is a resident there.

He's been charged with obliterating identification marks on a handgun; carrying a handgun without a license; and three counts of criminal mischief. The handgun charge is a Class C felony, punishable by two to eight years incarceration. The other charges are misdemeanors.

About 1:20 a.m. Wednesday, three people reported that someone entered or attempted to enter their vehicles and broke or cut through windows.

Deputies learned from one woman that Davis could be the suspect, based on information she heard about him doing such acts before, according to the affidavit.

He's accused of firing the gunshots just as deputies zeroed in on his apartment building.

A search of his apartment bedroom turned up several knifes, a Craftsman rotary tool and numerous handgun rounds and shotgun shells, along with a 9mm Ruger handgun allegedly used that morning, the affidavit states.

- Sophia Voravong/svoravong@jconline.com

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Vandalisms tied to hunt for rent money

Tyler E. Davis told Tippecanoe County sheriff's deputies that he was thinking about due rent and decided to check for unlocked vehicles, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday in